Assassin Game

When I was in college (1987-1991) we played a fun game called Assassin. Our dorm was divided into floors (3 floors) and each floor was divided into wings: east or west wing. So I was on the third floor, east wing; people said I was from 3 East.

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Purpose

The purpose of assassin is to shoot your named target (another person) with a toy gun. When you "killed" them you then picked up their target, and so on, until you were the last person standing.

How it works

First, everyone meets and goes over the rules. Which areas can the game take place, which area is a safe zone, which "guns" are acceptable, can they be homemade, etc.

Everyone playing has their name on a piece of paper and put into a hat. People draw one name out of a hat. If it is your own name, keep it and choose another one, then put your name back in the hat. This name is your first target, the person you will shoot. When you shoot your target they will tell you who their target was, which is now your new target. The last person alive is the winner.

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Valid guns are any toy guns, not BB guns. We had dart guns, nerf guns, and guns that shot yellow BBs (which were NOT the Airsoft guns). Basically you can use any missle launcher found in the toy department. The worst guns were the dart guns, followed by the yellow BB guns. The best was a gun I got, which powered hollow soft plastic bullets by compressed air. Blow guns might work if they shoot balls and not needles or arrows. Have all players agree on the rules beforehand.

Some valid guns

Dart guns: These missles have the worst aerodynamics. Though they are cheap, avoid at all costs.

Yellow BB guns: I think the Airsoft gun ammunitions are a different diameter than for these guns, and I don't know if these are even sold anymore. But a spring-loaded mechanism throws a ball out the barrel. These have short range and low power.

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Nerf guns: Some guns are air powered and shoot foamy missles. The aerodynamics look good and so does the power.

Pea shooters: Basically a home made gun: straw that shoots dried peas. Good range, good aero. Person may not feel it and claim you missed.

Homemade marble gun: blow marbles out of 3/4 or 1" PVC tubes. Marbles have great distance and great aero.

Disc shooter: These have multi-shot clips so shooting is fast. But discs are not accurate. They tend to fly off to the side of rotation. But they do have great distance and aero qualities. Plastic disc kind has 3/4" discs. Others have foam discs about 1.5" in diameter.

Valid locations to shoot people are: in the halls, between classes, outside.

Invalid locations to shoot people: cafeteria, in class or a lab, in the bathroom or shower. Other places can be made "safe zones", like study rooms, pools, sports fields, marching band, etc.

When it comes down to the last few people it's a good idea to have some referees to say who hit whom first. There could be a prize at the end of the game, you decide.

It's a lot of fun as on your way home from class you could have anyone pop out of the bushes and start shooting you. Then you see your attacker is really the target of someone else, and someone starts shooting THEM! I can tell you to not assume the girls are easy targets or poor shots, some of them will surprise you. Some of them I played with were very sneaky.

Kids are turning out to be murderers not because of the games they play, or the music they listen to, but because the parents ignore them and don't teach them good ethics. These parents tend to buy their kids an Xbox then ignore the poor kids. And it's not just a poor socioeconomic thing either. It goes for rich kids whose parents work too much also.

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So, you can blame gangsta rap, rock music, D&D, or disco, but you would be missing the real issue.

Besides, this game gets people off their butts and getting a little exercise too. Plus competition is fun.

"Parenting is much more important than driving or getting married, yet you don't need a license for it."

Well it doesnt sound like a very supportive game. I know kids can do all kinds of things that are not good and they can get into things they shouldn't, but this just sounds like it is encouraging them to want to fight and shoot.

It is funny the different takes on this one. This is a game, not for children, but for college students (normally considered adults). College students work so hard studying that I'm sure it is a good release for them. I played cops and robbers and games like that when I was little and I've managed to live a nonviolent life. Susan from ThriftyFun

Thanks for the post. I'm a resident assistant in a college dorm and am setting up a version of this game for all the residents in my dorm to play. I figure they could use it seeing as everyone seems a little stressed out - dragging through second semester with summer so close yet so far, figured it was perfect timing. I've only heard good things about this game and have been waiting all semester for a time to set it up. Anyway, thanks again for the extra info on it. And to those who claim this is the reason people are turning into murders - you've got to be kidding. I'm in an all-girls dorm with a bunch of hard working, intelligent college kids that could just use a break. I'm a straight A student, with intentions of becoming a psychologist (soon off to grad school! eek!) and highly doubt that playing this game is going to make me or any of the girls in my dorm go off and harm another person. If anything they'll be less likely to do so after this game since it will reduce their stress level.